Robert Whittaker: One last chance

Robert Whittaker has been doing a champion's work without a title to his name. 'The Reaper' once sat on the middleweight throne, but his right to divisional kingship was challenged by a man who became his greatest competitive rival: Israel Adesanya.

After UFC 281, the world was in shock. Israel Adesanya had suffered his first defeat at 185 pounds at the hands of a foe who has beaten him more times than anyone else, Alex Pereira. Robert Whittaker regarded the Brazilian as a favorable matchup, and his chance to reclaim the title.

Unfortunately, for him, Adesanya finally avenged his past losses to 'Poatan' with an emphatic knockout at UFC 287. But strangely, in doing so, Adesanya showed Whittaker that it is possible to defeat a seemingly insurmountable opponent, who has one's number.

Whittaker has already lost to Adesanya twice. On Saturday at UFC 290, he'll face Dricus du Plessis in a title eliminator. It's likely his last chance at earning another crack at Adesanya. So he must prove his doubters wrong, just like 'The Last Stylebender' did against 'Poatan'.

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Robert Whittaker's title loss to Israel Adesanya

Despite his two losses to Israel Adesanya, it's arguable that Robert Whittaker is the more skilled fighter of the two. After all, styles make fights, and 'The Reaper' has a history of struggling against disciplined strikers who maintain a long range and favor fighting from the outside.

This disrupts Robert Whittaker's seamless ability to stutter-step into boxing combinations. It forces him to travel across a greater distance than he's used to. The extra time it affords his rangier opponents allows them to make better reads and predict his next move. In short, they make him telegraph his intent.

Thus, his forward bursts are easily intercepted by counterpunches he doesn't see coming. Unfortunately, the more he runs into his foe's counters, the more he's convinced he needs to rush in quicker to end the fight as soon as possible because he can't contend with them on the outside.

This, of course, only hastens his troubles against them. This is what led to his knockout loss against Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson at welterweight, another rangy counter-striker who sits on the outside. It is also what cost him his title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 243.

'The Reaper' has always fought this way. But perhaps watching the likes of Kelvin Gastelum find success lunging in against 'The Last Stylebender' in their thrilling Fight of the Year winner at UFC 236 worsened things. This almost certainly led to Whittaker doubling down on his approach.

So at UFC 243, Robert Whittaker put his 9-fight win streak and middleweight title on the line against Israel Adesanya. He was on home soil and had an aura of supreme confidence. He simply didn't see anything in Adesanya's skill set that he thought should trouble him.

After all, Whittaker was and remains the more well-rounded fighter of the two. Little did he know, though, that Adesanya was a stylistic nightmare, much like 'Wonderboy' was. The two men squared off and 'The Reaper' was on death's door not long into the bout.

Adesanya answered Whittaker's reckless lunges by leaning back at the waist and turning his entire torso into counter-hooks. In the first round, the Australian middleweight was saved by the bell. Unfortunately, no such salvation came in the second round, where he was promptly knocked out in dominant fashion.

It was a humiliating loss. But worse than that, it was the loss that stripped him of his championship status.

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Robert Whittaker's redemption

After tasting defeat for the first time as a middleweight, Whittaker knew he had much to do to earn a rematch against Adesanya. He rebounded against a fellow former welterweight, Darren Till. At the time, the Englishman was on a rough patch, but not yet considered a wasted talent.

'The Gorilla' had just defeated Kelvin Gastelum via split decision in his middleweight debut to bounce back from a two-fight losing streak at welterweight. Furthermore, Gastelum was coming off his incredible interim title bout against Adesanya. So Till was still regarded as a quality opponent.

And as a rangy striker who likes intercepting opponents with sniping left straights, he was exactly the kind of stylistic challenge that Robert Whittaker needed to show improvements against. The Australian was victorious but had a worrying moment in the first round after being dropped by an intercepting elbow from Till.

The strike caught him just as he was lunging into range. While Whittaker won a unanimous decision, it was a sign that he had yet to overcome his issues with rangy strikers. Thus, he'd need to do more to show Israel Adesanya he had changed as a fighter to earn a rematch.

He next faced Jared Cannonier, a future opponent of the Nigerian-New Zealander. Robert Whittaker, despite being badly hurt at one point in the bout, scored a dominant win, battering 'The Killa Gorilla' in a manner that Adesanya subsequently failed to replicate. Months later, he locked horns with another mutual foe.

Kelvin Gastelum, who took Israel Adesanya to the brink, crossed swords with Robert Whittaker at UFC on ESPN 22. The result was a five-round drubbing that left Gastelum wondering how it was possible for a fighter to be as good as 'The Reaper' was when they shared the octagon.

He claimed to have never felt what he felt against Whittaker and believed his foe had the tools to dethrone Adesanya. The Australian's chance to prove it came at UFC 271. After mounting a hard, three-fight win streak, Whittaker had returned to the summit of the middleweight division.

In the rematch, he opted for a more calculated approach in the striking department. He didn't lunge in as much. Instead, he kept Adesanya guessing by varying his approach. Unfortunately, he still struggled with his foe's range, absorbing countless low kicks and even suffering a knockdown in the first round.

While Robert Whittaker looked to steal the later rounds by scoring takedowns and racking up control time, it was in vain. His efforts made the bout far more competitive than their first affair, but the result was still a win in Adesanya's favor. Whittaker, however, believed he had done enough to win.

But that hardly mattered. The judges had made their decision. In the wake of his UFC 271 loss, the former middleweight champion knew that his window of opportunity to reclaim his title was closing. Rarely do fighters earn a third rematch against someone to whom they've lost twice.

Whittaker, however, was not deterred. Months later, he made the trip to Paris, France to take on Marvin Vettori, another mutual opponent of Israel Adesanya. As he did against Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum, 'The Reaper' lumped his foe up in a way that 'The Last Stylebender' hadn't and couldn't.

By the end of their bout, Vettori was a bloodied mess. It was Whittaker's first win since UFC 271. Now, with UFC 290 just days away, he is scheduled to face Dricus du Plessis. This is Robert Whittaker's last chance to mount another title-challenging campaign.

Overcoming the challenge that du Plessis presents is fundamental to that. Middleweight is bereft of compelling contenders. Everyone else in the top five besides du Plessis has lost to either Whittaker or Adesanya or both. Vettori just lost to Cannonier and is 1-2 in his last three fights.

Meanwhile, 'The Killa Gorilla's' last two wins since losing to Adesanya are against Marvin Vettori, who is ranked #4, and Sean Strickland, who is ranked #7. Robert Whittaker's last win also came against 'The Italian Dream'. If he defeats Dricus du Plessis, who is ranked #5, he'll have the strongest claim to a title fight.

The only other top-five middleweight in consideration would be Alex Pereira, but he is currently booked to fight Jan Błachowicz at light heavyweight. Rarely, do the stars align for someone to earn a third crack at the same opponent. To do so, Whittaker must beat du Plessis. It's his last chance, and he knows it.